SAVE and EXPORT does not work in Illustrator 2020 (24.1.1) on Windows 10

[Blue2k]

Hello guys,

I have a very strange and annoying issue with the Illustrator. It just does not save anything, it does not show any errors, or any pop-ups. I try Save, Save as, Export... nothing..., Save as Copy also does not save anything... Export does not work.. When try "Close" it asks if I want to save the file than I click on Yes... and nothing happens either, nor save nor the illlustrator closes.
I tried to uninstall and reinstall, did all the updates in Creative Cloud, logged out and logged in, restarted computer several times. Nothing changes.

The weirdest thing is that it does not even show an error message, than it would be easier to inderstand what happens.

Here is a short video I recorded directly with my phone:

I use Adobe Illustrator 2020 (24.1.1) (64bit) on Windows 10 Pro (Version 1909)

Any ideas? 

Thank you!

{Renamed by MOD}

[Cubicle Fugitive_William]

I had the same isse but I tried this and it worked.

To be clear, after I updated Adobe Illustrator I wasn't able to save any new or old files. At first I was getting a plugin error when starting illustrator, then fixed that after following tutorials but still when I clicked save nothing happened, no error, simply nothing! I searched everywhere for answers, restarted the program and windows multiple times but nothing worked. I tried this little change and wow, I can finally save my file. Thank you so much!

Adobe please fix this soon!

[clintg616]

So this still happens to me randomly still. The workaround for me has been save it to the Adobe cloud and shutdown restart when you open the file back up you should be able to save it to your computer.
Hopefully this helps you not lose work!

Clinton Garant

Personal detaills removed by moderator

[kellieb49803250]

I just encountered this error for the first time tonight. It only seemed to happen when I tried to export JPG 100 files and only a partial upload was successful. However, when I tried with JPG 50 all of them seemed to export correctly. 
I also started experiencing trouble with exporting PDFs tonight and haven't run into any issues before. When I save as PDF and DON'T tick the "save artboards to different files, it randomly generated all  artboards as pdfs but included all artboards on each PDF file and they were blank (so 15 artboards = 15 separate PDF files that each had 15 pages but all were blank). Then when I tried again, it generated then as jpgs. I think illustrator is a tad bit confused at the moment. Anyone else have any of these other issues along with jpgs?

[kellieb49803250]

This is what I mean by blank artboards above. Not only did I not ask it to save as separate artboards, it did anyways and on top of that, literally all PDF files I'm getting this...UGHHH I'm so freakin over this update...and WHY I only just started having problems last night is beyond me...y'all say prayers this lady is about to lose my mind all together at this point 😫

[El Kemelyen]

Same fuc***g problem here! I just lost everything I did, 5 fuc***g hours of work for nothing!!! this crap was not even able to keep in the clipboard the artwork I compied!!!

who's going to pay the the 2k I was about to charge for this job and the 5 hours of work!!!??
Adobe guys, if you're going to launch another version of any software, make sure thst crap works properly!!!!

[donnajanem67260617]

I can't seem to export anything - so many error issues, file to large, file color and now this (!now) is anyone working on correcting this issue. Same exact thing UPDATE is a HOT mess in my opinion. Even a simple text box is super messed up at this point. 

[TV5FC8]

Hi guys,

I'm also facing same issue. When I open Illustrator I get a black window. I can't save as or export any projects.

I tried to uninstall and reinstall, did all the updates in Creative Cloud, logged out and logged in, restarted computer several times. Nothing changes.

I have the 2020 version and made an update yesterday, I guess it has m¡something to do with it?

Thanks,

[link removed by moderator]

[rhworks]

This is still happening. Mac OS, latest Illustrator update 25.2.1. Existing files appear to open and save ok. New files cannot be Saved, Save as, Save as copy, or Exported. Force-quitting does not appear to generate a saved-data file. Adding Illustrator to the OS' Security preferences for "full disk access" did not have any impact. No workaround other than hijacking existing files as mules to save new work, otherwise guaranteed lost work. Bug submitted through the crash report.

[Monika Gause]

This is still happening. Mac OS, latest Illustrator update 25.2.1. Existing files appear to open and save ok. New files cannot be Saved, Save as, Save as copy, or Exported. Force-quitting does not appear to generate a saved-data file. Adding Illustrator to the OS' Security preferences for "full disk access" did not have any impact. No workaround other than hijacking existing files as mules to save new work, otherwise guaranteed lost work. Bug submitted through the crash report.

By @rhworks

Do you have a printer installed? If not, please try and install a printer.

[rhworks]

Have several printers installed, thanks.

[Monika Gause]

Try and reset the default printer.

Windows messes with that on every update.

[Thao5FAE]

I am having an issue similar to this issue and have tried many of the fixes in this thread. I am on version Adobe Illustrator 2020 24.2.1. At first I was not getting a dialog at all, but that issue has been addressed in another support thread. Now what is happening over the past few months is I can Open, Save As, Save a Copy, etc. but Save does not do anything. I still have the * asterisk indicating that my changes have not been saved and my file is not showing an updated modified date. I've been working around this by Saving As or Saving a Copy every time, but I would really like for Save to work. 

HP ZBook Studio G3, Windows 10 Enterprise

[Monika Gause]

I am having an issue similar to this issue and have tried many of the fixes in this thread. I am on version Adobe Illustrator 2020 24.2.1. At first I was not getting a dialog at all, but that issue has been addressed in another support thread. Now what is happening over the past few months is I can Open, Save As, Save a Copy, etc. but Save does not do anything. I still have the * asterisk indicating that my changes have not been saved and my file is not showing an updated modified date. I've been working around this by Saving As or Saving a Copy every time, but I would really like for Save to work. 

HP ZBook Studio G3, Windows 10 Enterprise

By @Thao5FAE

Try and disable "Save in background" in the preferences.

[Thao5FAE]

I have disabled this setting, and Illustrator is still not saving.

[rhworks]

Feels like this goes further than just Save or Export, seems anytime Illustrator tries to access an OS level dialog it just ... doesn't. Relink a linked placed file, Replace placed file, Place file all fail to hit an OS dialog, just a brief beachball then nothing.

[rhworks]

Keep forgetting to put system info in (also no Edit capability for forum posts a bit of a drag):

Macbook Pro 16 inch 2019, 10.15.7 Catalina

Creative Cloud and Illustrator are up-to-date.

I have access to an older machine on a previous system (Macbook Pro 15 inch 2016, 10.14.6 Mojave) and it appears to run Illustrator normally. Fortunate that I have that as a workaround, but without it Illustrator would be pretty useless.

[lucia_pizarro]

What happens to me is teh files save just fine, but it takes ages to export to svg or png otherwise extremely simple graphics such as icons. Like 15 minutes for five icons over 500bytes each!
I have installed several different updates from Adobe Illustrator 2020 (24.1.1) with which the issues started and up to 2021 (25.0.1).

I rather not update further, my computer (Windows) strains enough as it is.

It worked just fine and I don't know why the issues started. I can't go back to Adobe Illustrator 2019 because it's not possible anymore.
I have tried several of the fixes suggested, like uninstalling and installing again, renaming preferences folder, restarting, opening illustrator as administrator. All this is taking a lot of time and trial and error fixes that do not fix anything.
I think someone from Adobe should really take the time to list a sequence of actions to do to fix this bug and in what order. Some of them seem a bit...      Also there's not a single answer in this thread that says the bug has been fixed in release "x". I have checked the list of bug fixes in the different releases and it does not say the "save and export" bug has been fixed at all!(https://helpx.adobe.com/in/illustrator/kb/fixed-issues.html)

[Chan5FDE]

I'm having the issue with the save or save as and export dialogues not coming up. I can force quit and I still cant save (etc) the recovered file either. 

How has this issue been going on for so long, yet we're paying MONTHLY for this program, and nothing gets fixed? 

I don't get it. 

I upgraded for an easier and smoother flow, otherwise CS6 was truly fine with me. Now I'm paying monthly, which I hugely dislike because I dont see monthly new-ness from Adobe (so I pay monthly for something I'll never actually 'own') and then there's no support. Save is VITAL function!

Adobe CC 2021 (v 25?) MacOs 10.15.7

[Henrry227896975xeu · Accepted solution]

SOLVED!!!

Hello everyone. After almost pulling my hair out trying to resolve this issue I found a solution that worked for me. Hopefully it will work for you too.

I am operating out of an M1 Mac Mini. What finally worked was simply updating my system. Go to the apple logo on the top left corner of your screen / system preferences / software update. Check for any available updates. Close all of your programs, update your computer, let it restart, and done. I am now on MacOS 12.1 Monterey and illustrator is finally saving and exporting as normal. 

ALSO, HOW TO NOT LOSE YOUR WORK!!!

I had been dealing with this issue for two days. One way I was able to save my work and not lose it was to save it to the Adobe Cloud. Saving to the computer option wasn't working, but saving to adobe cloud worked and allowed me to preserve all of my hard work while I tried to find a solution. 

Good luck!

[Andy Snitker]

I was just having this same issue and it was because my file name was too long. Shortening my filenamed fixed this issue.

[Hudson LEE · Accepted solution]

The open new page, save new page as blank. This worked for me; for now. The SAVE AS, NOT RESPONDING bug no more. Working fine now. Thanks, life-saver. 

[Ajay258579043w6d]

Try Save as Template, it worked for me

[Lausac]

Hi, its September 2023 - Windows 10 and illustrator has just been updated and I couldn't export or Save as, anything from illustrator.

No error message, just nothing. I went into Acrobat opened up the original PDF file and went to save it again, immedietely Acrobat showed an error message saying the filename was too long. I tried doing the same thing with many other pdf files that were perfect before the updates, but now all of a sudden the file names were too long. I went back into illustrator tried exporting the file again, but this time made the file name just 35 characters long and everything worked perfectly. I literally have thousands of files that are more than 35 characters long, so I'm hoping Adobe can fix the problem soon.

[OC_Creative]

I'm now having this problem with the 2024 update...I can't even Save As to save it to the cloud. If I close out, all of the work I've done thus far will be lost...why is this still happening after 4 years of the original problem occuring?!

[Anubhav Majumder]

Hello @OC_Creative,

Sorry to hear about this experience. I hope the problem is resolved by now. If not, would you mind trying to copy everything from the current document to a new one and then trying to save it to check if it helps?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Anubhav